"The central doctrine of Christianity, then, is not that God is a bastard. It is, in the words of the late Dominican theologian Herbert McCabe, that if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you."--Terry Eagleton

"It is impossible for me to say in my book one word about all that music has meant in my life. How then can I hope to be understood?--Ludwig Wittgenstein

“The opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice."--Bryan Stevenson

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Meanwhile, Back in Trumpland

I have agreed with the historically cooperative, disciplined approach that we have engaged in with Robert Mueller (Unlike the Clintons!). I have full confidence in Ty Cobb, my Special Counsel, and have been fully advised throughout each phase of this process.

"Fully advised" and "properly advised" being two different things, especially since it seems the legal advice Trump is taking comes from Judge Jeannine and Steve Bannon:

The Washington Post reported Wednesday night that the people close to the erstwhile Breitbart executive say his plan has multiple stages. First: fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Second: stop cooperating with Mueller. Third: invoke “executive privilege,” which would supposedly render all of the interviews Mueller’s team has done with people close to the president “null and void.”

Steve Bannon, sooper-genius and legal expert par excellence! Should we pause to note:

“It was a strategic mistake to turn over everything without due process,” the former adviser said, “and executive privilege should be exerted immediately and retroactively.”

Um, privilege doesn't work that way, Steve. You don't use it, you lose it. You can't declare "King's X!" and get it back again.

Bannon himself attempted to invoke executive privilege when testifying before the House Intelligence Committee in January. In response, House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) said the fired Breitbart executive was attempting to invoke a form of executive privilege “that doesn’t exist and that no one’s ever heard of before.”